Heavy work

This week at Houghton we had some heavy work to do.

We raised the canopies of some of the bigger trees in the garden down towards the river, some Poplar, Fraxinus, Platanus x Hispanica. By removing some of the lower branches, Andrew thought it would enable us to be able to work around the tree better, the visitors to avoid low branches and ultimately the tree will benefit from more energy going into the tree elsewhere. We produced a lot of waste using a pruning saw and loppers and took it in turns to drive the Bradshaw to remove it all onto a fire.

I had a lesson on chemical usage for weed control and tried a Knapsack sprayer for the first time. Heavy to carry and you have to use a stiff pump handle almost all the time which is tiring too. SO good to zap those weeds though in the walled garden, another new task carried out. Lots to learn this week.

I tried a ride on Mower, Artesia which we were trying to pick up leaves with. Quite stiff to manoeuvre but quite speedy to get the job done and I used the Billy Goat to pick up leaves in the orchard, the Kiwi leaves are massive and didn't really want to play ball so good old fashioned raking finished the job off.

A big job to get done was removal of four giant Rhodedendrons (Horizon Monarch) which had become pot bound and that took three people and all their might and Andrew ending up lying down with the force of them!  We re-filled the planters with topsoil and planted four standard Hollies (Ilex J C van tol) instead, which we had sourced from Hillier. I got to visit the wholesale Nursery and that was interesting to see the production of plants on a big scale. Lots I would have loved to take home and lots of plants I had not seen before or at least not identified. I did manage to buy a Skimmia rubella which I want for my front garden and the dark green foliage looks really great against the deep red buds of the flowers to come.

Lots still going on in the garden, the Cornus at the bottom of the main lawn is a bank of red stems and gives a great burst of colour against the river and lawn. The last few leaves of the Liquidambar trees are clinging on giving fire like colour to the view from the Long Border. I love the birds flitting to and fro from the bird feeders in the Walled Garden and we spotted a Woodpecker having a nibble too.

Transplanting and more bulbs

This week we were mainly working on the Mercury bed at the front of the house. The circular bed is the centre piece of the driveway down to the front door and had been neglected for a while being quite weedy and a variety of plants which did not really look happy together. Andrew and I cleared the beds and transplanted and potted up anything we thought needed saving, hairy Carex, Gaura with its wispy flowers and Salvia hotlips.

Carex are fab plants that are great to handle, they are pretty sturdy. We were running out of compost and pots for such large plants so re-housed a few in our holding bay of a veg bed til we need that space for our veg next year.

We planted the bed up the following day to Andrew's design and it is going to look great. We were working on the curved line of each bed so used a cane and tape to measure the arcs. We planted alternate Tulips and Anemones around them in three arcs. We are going to plant Box and Lavender for the rest of the bed. It is good to see some formality in the bed and see an improvement.

We removed a huge old Rosemary from the walled garden which required a saw so you can imagine how woody it was. Onto the bonfire it went, smelling wonderful!

I had a look around the garden and found some Old Man's Beard Clematis which I used to love as a child in the hedgerows. I also checked on our Rose stems we are propagating in the long border and they have new shoots! Hurray! I had a peek at the Orchids at the mo and their colours are stunning. Some of the succulents are a real joy as well and Andrew spotted a Bird of Paradise displaying 2 flowers looking lovely against the blue sky.

Trying to use all the bulbs we have, we planted up some urns and pots we could think of, all to add to the Spring colour, once the Gardens are open from March 1st.

I also had a go at hollowing out some of the ornamental Gourds we grew this summer, Swan Neck and Yugoslavian Fingers to put food in for the birds. Great idea!

We seem up to speed with things right now and as a result you get a sense of the place and how to handle the different areas. When I arrived in June, with everything in full flow, it seemed a never ending task ahead but somehow with the leaves gone from the trees and the bare roots of the garden showing it seems much more approachable. Happy days.

Frost and fire

A great week of cold weather with beautiful bright blue sky and lovely orange sunrises as you drove into Stockbridge village. 

We managed to plant hundreds of bulbs on Wednesday, Tulips kaufmanniana ‘Scarlet Baby’ and greigii ‘Cape Cod’ and Anemones. We used Andrew's design to mirror the engraving on the chimneys above the veranda beds, diagonals and infill diamonds. Should be good!

We also severely pruned the Madame Alfred Carriere roses which have been neglected for a while and trained them along wire for a better display next year. 

Lots of tidying achieved and everything went onto a big bonfire. We even started work on pruning dead wood away from the apple orchard espalier and standard trees opening up the structure to a goblet shape to let in light and air. Andrew was in his element up a tree with a saw!


A real pleasure to be in the garden again, taking time to see the birds, the mists and the ladybirds hiding in the leaves. The crab apple tree without its leaves looks like it has beautiful red decorations hanging from it. As the leaves are falling for the the first time since I have been working here, I have seen the Espalier trees properly and the pear tree is amazing! We also spotted some bright Coral Spot on the Quince, super colour but damaging.....

Digging and peace and quiet

It has been half term and back at Houghton Lodge this week it has been blissfully peaceful with wonderful Autumnal colours wherever you are. The trees down by the pond and river are a mix of oranges, reds and yellows, wonderful London Plane and Beech.

Apple collecting is still happening and many leaves are being composted too. We used the great big BillyGoat machine to clear leaves a bit yesterday, trundling along sucking up everything in its path like a giant hoover.

Priority is still Spring bedding so when the rain stopped Andrew and I managed to dig and plant up two BIG raised beds into patterns of Daffs and Hyacinths, blue and white. We dug out lots of old bulbs, hairy white roots spraying all over the place and washed and kept some for re-use. Once we had dug the soil out onto tarpaulin, we sprinkled Bonemeal onto the soil to encourage good growth and then put our bulbs in place. A diamond in one and swirls in another. The we replaced the soil. Lots of work but really great to get it done (what do you think Andrew?).

Yesterday Lesley was at work (our Volunteer) so we worked together to remove some overgrown roses at the veranda beds, the red hips growing into the veranda glass roof! We had previously taken and sown some of the seeds from the hips, Emma Wright being one of them, so we may still have saved some if they are successful. We also cleared some of the left over summer bedding Salvia and Cineraria and tidied the beds a bit ready for Tulips.

Really enjoying being outdoors in this weather there is so much to see, Buzzards flying about and the river. Gardening certainly makes you more aware of your surroundings.

Yip Yipee a certificate at last

Today I was pleasantly surprised to receive some post. Although I had been told I had passed my RHS Level 2 certificate in Practical Horticulture it was great to actually see it formally so I can now feel like I have an ounce of knowledge!

Onwards and upwards!